Switzerland has compulsory gun ownership for military age males,
yet it has a far lower murder rate than the U.S. But Switzerland also has
far stricter gun control laws. Even so, Switzerland has the second highest
rate of handgun ownership and handgun murders in the industrialized world,
after the U.S.

Argument

Switzerland is frequently cited as an example of a country with
high gun ownership and a low murder rate. However, Switzerland also has
a high degree of gun control, and actually makes a better argument for
gun regulation than gun liberalization.

Switzerland keeps only a small standing army, and relies much more
heavily on its militia system for national defense. This means that most
able-bodied civilian men of military age keep weapons at home in case of
a national emergency. These weapons are fully automatic, military assault
rifles, and by law they must be kept locked up. Their issue of 72 rounds
of ammunition must be sealed, and it is strictly accounted for. This complicates
their use for criminal purposes, in that they are difficult to conceal,
and their use will be eventually discovered by the authorities.

As for civilian weapons, the cantons (states) issue licenses for handgun
purchases on a "must issue" basis. Most, but not all, cantons
require handgun registration. Any ammunition bought on the private market
is also registered. Ammunition can be bought unregistered at government
subsidized shooting ranges, but, by law, one must use all the ammunition
at the range. (Unfortunately, this law is not really enforced, and gives
Swiss gun owners a way to collect unregistered ammunition.) Because so
many people own rifles, there is no regulation on carrying them, but 15
of the 26 cantons have regulations on carrying handguns.

Despite these regulations, Switzerland has the second highest handgun
ownership and handgun murder rate in the industrialized world. A review
of the statistics: